Sealed with a Kiss
by Lass Cherrie
Summary: DISCONTINUED / Disaster for Toyko Mew Mew! Aizawa Mint is losing her powers, and only her true love can break the spell. Now she has two options: Become the first ex-Mew... Or kiss EVERYONE she knows... Mint/?
1. Eins

**June 20, 09.**

**Hellooo, Fictioners!**

**Yes, yes, yes. Hello again. I know that within about two days I've updated 2 stories and am beginning a third. Why? Because it's exam time, and that's when I get my most FF work done, because I practise the subtle art of procrastination.**

**As you can see, I have ninja skills in procrastinaton. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could be the heir to the Procrastinationtown throne XD.**

**Now, this is my entry for Tomahawk 3.0's 'Losing Love' competition. Check it out if you're interested. However, this might well also be my entry for another competition of Toma's; OC Idol. You'll see. I'm going to be extremely awesome and merge the two for one gigantic entry ;)**

**But I've taken a new approach to this story. See, I'm well known for my endless chapters and boundless description, so this time, I'm aiming at shorter chapters (this one is 7) with much less description and faster-paced plotlines.**

**So if my writing seems OOC for me, then IT IS!!! XD**

**Enjoy, people.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TMM.**

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**S.W.A.K -- Eins**

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"Mew Mew Lettuce, Metamorphosis!"

Mint watched on with tense, dark brown eyes as the tall, green-haired girl transformed into Mew Lettuce, her braids constricting into a thick tube down her back, her cafe uniform magically morphing into her bright green fighting costume.

Their foe – a fat, oversized cobra snake with scales shining a disgusting variety of fluorescent hues – loomed above them, its forked tongue flickering from between its bumpy lips. It hissed menacingly, and Mint sighed heavily. Time to put her life on the line for the greater good of the population of Tokyo.

"Mew Mew Mint!" she cried. "Metamorphosis!"

The pleasant, familiar feeling of the transformation process washed over her small, slender-limbed body, her stupidly frilly puffed skirt swirling into a tight-fitting micro-mini dress that clung to her figure. Her silky gloves materialised around her hands, her blue-black hair – by some unknown godly force of nature – suddenly shining vibrant, ocean blue.

"When will you learn that you're just wasting your time?" Ichigo jeered from across the field. The five Mews had the big, dangerous reptile surrounded, their eyes fixed firmly on its frighteningly long fangs. Or – more specifically – on the slick, clear fluid that dripped slowly down them, reminding them of how close they were standing to a quick, painful death, and causing shudders to tremble down their spines.

"Popular to contrary belief, my dear kitty cat," Kish purred from above, where he hovered like a mutant angel, smirking widely, "it's not a waste of time if we're furthering our knowledge of ways to destroy you."

"Each failure merely constitutes what we shall _not_ do the next time we encounter you pesky mutants," Pie added, folding his arms across his chest. His steel eyes were emotionless. "By eliminating the most futile of our attempts, we are narrowing our future options down to a range of entirely potential successes."

"Ugh. Whatever," Mint finally snapped, sick of his confusing monologues. "No-one understands what you're talking about _anyway_."

"Exactly!" Ichigo agreed, stealing back the limelight, as usual. Mint rolled her eyes. "Which is why its time for us to exterminate your little bug!"

"Forgive my disputing you, Momomiya," Mint interrupted loftily. "But that lethal snake right there is not what I consider _little_."

The cat-Mew glared at her, her vivid pink hair shaking around her shoulders as she fought to contain her rising pressure-gage. Any second now, she would explode, and Mint would mentally tick off another box on the list of Daily Successes in the Irritation of Ichigo.

Though her life had become rather mundane of late, it never ceased to stroke her ego that she could still rile up their perky _leader_ (though why Shirogane had decided to place someone as ditzy as Momomiya Ichigo at the head of a team of crime-fighting teenage super heroines when there were three – heck, _four; _even Pudding was more resourceful than Ichigo! – entirely more capable girls at his disposal, was something Aizawa Mint would never understand) whenever she simply felt the desire to.

"Min–" Ichigo began, her face reddening as her cheeks puffed up angrily, but Pudding cut across her.

"Ichigo-onee-chan, watch out!"

The snake had finally gotten bored of waiting around for us to attack it, and had decided to take action itself. It curled around on itself, its sharp eyes landing on the loudest (dumbest, clumsiest, stupidest, perkiest, most annoying – oh, the list could go on forever...) of their team, and it opened its mouth wide, firing a stream of deadly, poisonous needles at her.

Ichigo leaped backwards onto her hands and sprang back onto her feet, executing an almost-perfect back handspring, narrowly avoiding the barrage of pin-like arrows.

"Hey!" she protested angrily. "How dare you interrupt me! Strawberry Bell!"

Her heart shaped weapon materialised magically in her gloved hands, and Mint rolled her eyes. Ever the impatient one, Ichigo was once again jumping into action way too soon, and the others would have to take action quickly before she messed everything up and wasted her attack, since it was the only one of the five of them that actually had the power to destroy a Chimera Anima.

"Mint Arrows!" Mint called, summoning her bow and arrow. She clasped it carefully in her hands, waiting for the others.

"Lettuce Castanets!"

"Pudding Ring!"

Zakuro wordlessly summoned her lasso, gripping it solemnly in her graceful hand and looking comically bored, despite the danger they were facing. Mint watched her for a moment – watched her boundless grace and breathtaking, unmatched elegance as she prepared for battle and lashed her glowing whip, striking their enemy right between the eyes. The snake reeled, recoiling with a half-shriek-half-hiss of pain. The teen sensation really was amazing. Such dignity...

"Reborn Lettuce Rush!" Lettuce shouted from her right, dragging the bird-Mew out of her idolising thoughts. Water blasted from her instrumental weapon, dousing the enormous serpent and rendering it helpless to attack.

"Pudding Ring Inferno!" Pudding cried eagerly, the bells on her tambourine jingling as she thrust it toward their foe. Somehow – again, thanks to the mysterious godlike powers that spurted from nowhere – a trail churned up the earth, rumbling towards its thick tail, and the snake was quickly encased in a sturdy block of amber jelly.

It was her turn.

Mint sighed with a slight reluctance and drew the string taught, knocking her deadly arrow and taking careful aim. _Strike the heart_, she reminded herself. _Aim right for the heart_.

She opened her mouth, awaiting the words she knew would unleash her perfect attack and render the foe useless, so Ichigo could do her thing and miraculously destroy it (and assume, of course, that it had been her sheer power and skills that had ensured their win, as she always did).

But the words didn't come.

"Mint," Zakuro called, frowning. "Strike it now, before it breaks out."

Mint took a deep breath, shaking her head and refocusing her aim. She could do this. She knew she could; she'd done it _countless _times before. She'd just gotten lazy today, that was all.

Again, she opened her mouth to speak.

"I... I..." she choked on her stuttered words, turning to the others in disbelief. "I can't!"

"_What_?!" Ichigo shrieked. "What do you mean, you can't?!"

"I mean... I _can't_!" Mint cried, horrified. Normally when she prepared to attack, her battle phrase just flowed smoothly to the tip of her tongue. She didn't even have to think about it.

But today, all that answered her questioning confusion was a heavy silence in her brain. The words simply wouldn't – couldn't – come.

"I–I've forgotten them!" she gasped in horrified realisation. The bow and arrow slipped from her hands and clattered to the ground at her feet, suddenly unimportant.

"Mint!" Ichigo shouted, irritated. "Quit playing around, already, and attack that stupid thing!"

"Ichigo, _I can't_!" Mint roared back, frustrated. Did the stupid girl honestly think she was _deliberately_ not attacking the enemy that could easily kill them all in a matter of seconds? What was she, completely idiotic?

"Uh... guys?" Lettuce stammered nervously. "If we don't attack now, that snake will break free!"

Mint and Ichigo turned their attention to the battlefield, alarmed to find Pudding's sturdy prison slowly cracking in places as the monster it detained fought to escape.

Ichigo shot Mint a disapproving glare before raising her bell.

"Reborn Strawberry Check Surprise!" she called. Glittering pink light exploded from her weapon, surrounding the beast and filling the area with painfully bright light. Mint winced, turning her face away to protect her eyes, opening them only when she sensed everything was over.

Her gaze fell on the centre of the clearing, away from which a small, common carpet snake was rapidly slithering. It disappeared into the safety of the surrounding forest before anyone could even speak, leaving a faintly glowing hovering blob in its wake, which bobbed around uselessly until Masha popped up and disposed of it.

Everyone was silent for several long moments, and Mint's cheeks reddened when she felt seven pairs of eyes fix on her. Even the aliens seemed at a loss for words.

Kish was the first to recover.

"Interesting," he purred, clearly delighted by the sudden change in proceedings. "This changes _everything_. Pie, Tart."

Mint glanced up just as the three of them teleported into thin air, just quick enough to catch the bewildered expression on Pie's face, the confusion on Tart's, and the dark, calculating smirk on Kish's.

Without speaking, she transformed back into her normal form, storming away from the clearing.

"Wait a second!" Ichigo called, still annoyed. Pounding footsteps announced her quickly approaching, muffled by the thick grass underfoot. "What the heck happened back there?!"

"How should I know?" Mint snapped irritably.

"Well it happened to _you_," the redhead pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I automatically know what it means!" Mint argued hotly, curling her hands into shaking fists at her sides as she marched on, wishing Ichigo would just buzz off. Everything was good and well as long as it all went according to _her_ plan. The minute something went awry, and she was worse than the Spanish Inquisition.

"Your hesitation could have lost us the battle!" Ichigo snapped.

"I did _not _hesitate!" Mint yelled furiously, hot tears pooling in her eyes. She whirled around, facing Ichigo like an enraged cougar, her eyes flashing with fury, her muscles tensed. Ichigo instinctively backed up before she could grab a hold of her senses.

"Well whatever you did, it wasn't helpful," she pointed out, recovering, seeming almost pleased that the bird-Mew had faulted in the battle, just so she could gloat about it. God, she was almost as bad as Kish!

"Well excuse me for not being _perfect_!" Mint cried, finally losing whatever little patience she had left. Letting out a small shriek of frustration, she whipped around again and crashed away through the trees.

Ichigo watched her with wide brown eyes.

"Ichigo-onee-chan?" Pudding asked quietly, approaching tentatively with Lettuce, Zakuro lazily bringing up the rear, her midnight eyes fixed on Mint's slight form disappearing in the distance. "What's wrong with Mint-onee-chan, na no da?"

"I don't know, Pudding," Ichigo replied, sighing. "But something's definitely up with her."

~o~

"What do you mean, she couldn't fight?" Shirogane demanded. Lettuce flinched involuntarily, her hands clenching the broom handle nervously as she listened to the conversation taking place in the kitchen.

"I mean, when it was her turn to attack, she couldn't do it!" Ichigo snapped.

"But that doesn't make any sense, baka!"

Their boss struggled to keep his voice level as she reported the afternoon's events. She glared up at him, her big brown eyes resentful.

"Why are you yelling at me? You think it's _my _fault that Mint was weak?" she demanded. "Stop blaming everything on me, Shirogane! Just because _I'm_ the leader doesn't mean everything that goes wrong is automatically the result of something _I've_ messed up! If you're going to keep yelling at me, then find someone else to do the job, because I'm getting sick of it!"

"Baka!" Shirogane growled. "You're not quitting, because you know _damn well_ there's no-one else who can do it! And I never even _blamed _you. So stop dragging yourself into the centre of attention! It's not all about _you_, you know."

"ARGH!" she screeched, stomping furiously from the room. She paused in the doorway to yell back at him, "You're impossible, Shirogane! I _hate it _here!"

Then, with that dramatic exit, she stormed away to fume.

Lettuce sighed heavily and relaxed again, the war over for the time being. She resumed her quiet sweeping of the dining room floor, her blue eyes soft behind her big round glasses, humming ever so softly to herself as she worked; a tuneless melody that served little purpose, other than to gradually irritate the blue-haired girl sitting silently at the table in the corner, who glanced at her sharply every now and then.

Lettuce came to a rest when she neared the bird-Mew's usual table, wondering whether she should say something that might console her, or to leave her in peace.

"Mint-san," she said gently, gathering courage from somewhere inside her. "I'm sure what happened today is nothing to be worried about. You were probably just having a bad day. I'm sure everything will be normal again next time."

Mint didn't say anything; she just stared down stonily at the china tea set before her, then reached for it with her slender hands, pouring herself a fresh cup of tea.

_Well, _Lettuce mused optimistically, _she can't be _too_ upset, if she's still drinking her tea..._

"Good afternoon, ladies," Keiichiro's charming voice greeted merrily, as he fought his way through the front door, his arms full of paper bags almost overflowing with food from the store.

"Hi, Akasaka-san," Lettuce replied obediently, inclining her head as he walked past cheerfully.

"Ryou," he said, heading into the kitchen, "I think that part you ordered came in the post today; I signed for something this morning. We put it up in your room. I didn't open– What's wrong?"

He set the bag down on the bench, his expression falling when he caught the troubled look on his partner's face.

"Something's wrong with Mint," Ryou replied.

"Is she okay?" Keiichiro asked in alarm, immediately thinking the worst.

"No, no, she's fine," Ryou said quickly. "But something's not right. She couldn't fight today."

"Couldn't _fight_?" Keiichiro said sharply. Ryou nodded, his brow furrowed as his mind ticked over the dilemma.

"But that's so odd," the taller man commented, beginning to unpack the paper bag, stacking the contents neatly on the bench.

"Tell me about it," Ryou agreed, azure eyes bothered. "It's never happened before."

"What happened, exactly?" Keiichiro asked curiously, his dark eyebrows pulling down over his warm brown eyes.

"She couldn't remember her attack phrase."

"She... forgot it?"

"Something like that."

"But... _how_?" Keiichiro wonder, baffled. "What in the world could cause something like this?"

"Well," Ryou sighed, pushing off from where his hands rested on the kitchen island, "that's what I'm planning on finding out."

~o~

"So... why am I being tested?"

"Because there might be something wrong with your DNA," Shirogane explained, carrying the vial of blood he'd just extracted from her arm over to his bench and slotting it into a complicated-looking contraption he'd no doubt invented himself.

Mint sighed.

"And what does that mean?" she asked tiredly.

"Well, I'm not sure," Ryou admitted. "This isn't something I've had to look into before."

"Sorry for burdening your peaceful, uneventful life, then," Mint scowled sarcastically.

"Stop causing trouble," he snapped. Clearly, he was in no mood for her chiding today. She sagged a little where she sat on the table, wishing her shift at the cafe would just finish so she could go home and sulk in the comfort of her own, lavish bedroom, without being disturbed by annoying people like Ichigo, or the irrepressible Pudding, whose eternal joy had only served to exacerbate her grumpy mood over the rest of the afternoon.

"Shirogane?" Mint asked quietly, breaking the silence. He glanced at her, acknowledging she'd spoken.

"What's happening to me?"

The worry laced in her voice distracted him from what he was doing for a moment, and he turned from the complex procedure of processing her blood cells.

"I don't know," he replied truthfully. "But don't let it worry you, because whatever it is, we'll be able to sort it out."

His blue eyes watched her for a moment, until she couldn't hold his gaze any longer and she tore her eyes away to glance down at her hands, which were knotting themselves together nervously.

"Just relax, Aizawa," Shirogane said, his platinum-blonde hair catching in the light of the computer. "Everything will be fine."

But for some reason, she found she couldn't wholeheartedly agree with him.

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**Oh, yes, and on top of the whole 'less description/shorter chapters' thing, I'm also writing with the Manga names for the characters, when I normally use the Anime names. Odd, no? **

**I thought so.**

**So, erm, yes. This chapter feels strangely like FLoaBW, if anyone remembers that good old fic XD ... Back in the day, ne?**

**If you're reading, please review. Thanks for reading, though :)**

**Until the next chapter,**

**Cherrie xx**


	2. Zwei

**June 22, 09.**

**Hello again, Fictioners!**

**Yes, here's the second chapter of SWAK. This story's rolling along very smoothly, actually. I'm rather enjoying writing it. But it's so strange not writing about OCs anymore. I seem to write stories these days that are either gigantic projects with 35 OCs, or Ryou/Ichigo romance fics, that don't include the rest of the characters. Writing entirely about the canons is so... odd!**

**Anyway. Read on. I hope you enjoy it :)**

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**S.W.A.K -- Zwei**

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"It just doesn't make any sense," Ryou muttered, frustrated, tapping away at his computer and bringing up new boxes on the screen, scrolling through the data displayed. Keiichiro stood behind him, leaning forward a little to read the information, his long brown ponytail falling over his shoulder, his small frames reflecting little twin computer screens in his lenses.

"The results have proved that Mint's cell structure is still strong, and her DNA strands are as functional as ever," Ryou explained, minimising a graph and maximising an enlarged, three-dimensional image of one of her cells.

"Have you compared her cells to one of the other Mew's?" Keiichiro asked, frowning slightly at the nonsensical conundrum.

"No," Ryou replied, sighing. "Maybe I should, just to make sure."

"I'll bring Lettuce down; she's on her break at the moment," Keiichiro said, striding to the door and pulling it open. Bright light from the hallway flooded into the dim laboratory. Ryou was cast into darkness once more as the door shut behind his friend with a sharp snap.

It was really very perplexing, this strange problem of Mint's. His eyes raked over the results yet again, for perhaps the hundredth time that day, picking out no newer details than they had the last time he examined them. There was nothing in the tests that explained why her powers had mysteriously faltered the other day.

It was just so strange!

"Shirogane-san?"

The door creaked open a little wider, and Lettuce's shadowed head poked into the room.

"Come in, Lettuce."

She quietly shut the door behind her and padded softly across the darkness to where he sat, her eyes curious behind her glasses. She very rarely came into his laboratory; normally it was off-limits to anyone besides Keiichiro, or Shirogane himself.

"How are you?" she asked politely, for lack of anything better to say. He didn't respond, and she immediately felt stupid for asking. Obviously his focus was fixed on more important things than ice-breaker trivialities. She blushed, thankful of the dimness of the room.

"Take a seat on the table," Ryou commanded without turning around. Lettuce glanced behind her, wondering where he meant. Surely he couldn't actually mean for her to _sit _on the desk, like it was a chair!

"Yes, that one," Ryou said, a smirk in his voice. Lettuce turned back around again, blushing redder when she realised he was making fun of her. She bowed her head politely and obediently arranged herself on the tabletop, feeling extremely out of place.

"I hope you're okay with needles," he said casually, getting up from the computer and retrieving a bag from the corner of the room, disappearing into the shadows for a moment.

"Y-yes, quite fine," she replied.

"So you're not nervous at the moment?" he asked, putting the bag on the table beside her and unzipping it. _Stupid question, _he realised to himself, _when is she ever _not _nervous?_

"I'm fine," she promised, so grateful that he couldn't see the dusting of pink across her cheeks. How she wished she could be more confident in his presence – or Keiichiro's for that matter. There was just something about boys that made her assurance falter; she felt so much more self-conscious in the presence of a male.

They were quiet while he worked silently, carefully inserting the needle into the interior of her elbow, and withdrawing blood from the vein. Stoppering the vial, he held out a band-aid, which she took with light fingers, and returned to the computer while she applied it to the tiny incision.

"I... I..." she trailed off awkwardly.

"You can go," he confirmed, too focused on what he was doing to turn around and look at her.

"Ryou!" Keiichiro's alarmed voice called, and the door flew open.

"What's going on?" Ryou asked, concerned.

"We need Lettuce," his friend replied. "The aliens are attacking again."

"Go," Ryou said, nodding at the green-haired girl. She slipped from the table and followed Keiichiro out of the laboratory, her attention already focusing on her new agenda.

~o~

"Can't you give us a break?" Ichigo complained, coming to a stop in her run to the site of the attack; an outdoor mall food court dotted with plastic tables and chairs. The shoppers had long since fled the scene, and the Mews were met only by the two elder aliens, who seemed to be waiting quite patiently for them.

"Seriously," Ichigo continued, scowling heavily. "Just once, it'd be nice to not have to beat you guys _every second day_!"

"Sorry, kitty cat," Kish replied, winking at her, his golden eyes smouldering, "but it's for the greater good. Of _our_ planet, of course. Not yours."

He grinned widely at them, holding out his palm, above which hovered another blob of glowing goo. Pinched between the thumb and forefinger of his other hand was a shard-like crystal, luminous purple in colour.

"Fusion!" Kish commanded, combining the two, and yellow-orange light exploded from between his fingers, bathing everything in a dusky glow for several lasting seconds.

A shrill, altogether inhuman laugh rang across the food court, and the Mews opened their eyes to the sight of a strange creature that seemed to be half woman, half bug. She was pale-skinned, with long brown-gold hair and a shiny, shell-like covering across her back, as well as several extra pairs of distinctly insect-like legs sprouting from her sides, and antennae extending from her head.

"Great," Ichigo groaned sarcastically, then sighed heavily. "Come on, girls!"

"Lettuce Castanets!" Lettuce called, obediently jumping into action. She grasped her weapon securely between her fingers, holding them out before her. "Reborn Lettuce Rush!"

Jets of water shot towards their foe, but she skittled aside with alarming speed, dodging effortless and laughing in delight.

"You think that's funny?" Pudding trash-talked enthusiastically, eager to fight, as always. "Well try this one on for size, na no da! Pudding Ring!"

Her tambourine materialised in her hand, and she bounded forwards only too willingly.

"Pudding Ring Inferno!"

The attack looked certain to be lined up remarkably well with their foe, but again the mutant bug lady danced aside quickly, and the monkey-Mew's assault was rendered harmless. She scuttled towards the now-vulnerable Pudding with horrifying speed, and the young girl sprang backwards as fast as she could, narrowly avoiding being swiped by one of her many excess arms, which suddenly seemed to have scythe-like blades for tips.

"How do we stop this thing?" Lettuce cried in dismay.

Without a word, Zakuro stepped forward, her Zacross Whip materialising in her slender fingers. She inhaled through her nose and flung her wrist forward, lashing relentlessly at the enemy, who, by some freakish amount of luck, managed to dodge each of her stinging blows, scuttling forward and slashing at the wolf-Mew. Zakuro exclaimed in surprise and pain as one of her legs sliced across her bare stomach.

"No! Onee-sama!" Mint cried in shock. Rage built up inside her as Zakuro retreated, stumbling backwards and encircling her waist with her arms, blood seeping slowly from the wound. "That's it, you horrible _freak_! Now you're going to pay!"

She narrowed her eyes angrily and lifted her arms, preparing to summon her bow and arrows. It was time to dispose of the stupid bug woman so they could get Zakuro back to the cafe and tend to her injury.

Her mouth fell open. Her eyes almost popped out of her head.

"What is it, Mint-san?" Lettuce called, concerned. Mint turned haunted eyes to her, her face paling.

"It's happening again!" she gasped. "I can't... I can't _remember_!"

"Well that's just great!" Ichigo cried sarcastically, back-flipping away from one of the bug Chimera's lethal legs. "_Now _what do we do? If you knew you couldn't battle, Mint, why'd you come with us?"

"Hey!" Mint protested angrily. "Shirogane told me everything would be fine! If you want to blame someone, blame _him_!"

Ichigo growled, bending over backwards as a blade narrowly passed over her. She rolled to the side and flicked out her leg. The Chimera ceased in its assault to dodge her kick, and Pudding sprang forward with a war-cry, landing on its back.

"Bet you weren't expecting _that_, na no da!" she cried gleefully. Ichigo picked herself up from the ground while the bug woman tried vainly to extract her recently-acquired parasite.

"Just stay back, Mint!" she called, sounding irritated and impatient as she flicked her pink hair. "Try not to get in the way. Lettuce, now!"

"Reborn Lettuce Rush!" Lettuce cried, pounding the Chimera with another wave of icy water. She screamed in fury, her awful voice gurgling as she struggled against the porpoise-Mew's attack. Mint glared furiously at Ichigo, before obediently dropping back and running over to Zakuro.

"Are you okay?" she asked, panic-stricken. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Zakuro replied, pushing her hands away from where they were trying to examine the wound. "Step aside, Mint."

Blushing at her weakness, and at the burden she seemed to have become for her team, Mint bowed her head in shame, moving out of the way so the purple-haired girl could summon her whip once more.

"Lettuce, Ichigo! Move!" she growled loudly, and the two girls glanced at her before doing as they were told. While the Chimera recovered from the sudden cease in Lettuce's unrelenting attack, Zakuro lashed her whip once, hard and fast, curling it around the woman's body and wrapping her up. Upon realising its new predicament, the bug lady began shrieking wildly, flailing herself and trying to free one of her many, pinned legs.

"Now, Ichigo!" Zakuro groaned, her free arm gripping her stomach firmly, the other struggling to maintain its grip on the lasso. Ichigo nodded, turning back to the Chimera with newfound determination.

"Strawberry Bell!" she summoned, and it materialised in her fingers. "Reborn Strawberry Check Surprise!"

Another dazzling wave of brilliant pink light, and the Chimera Anima was destroyed with a horrible scream. When the light faded, a tiny cockroach scuttled under the protection of a nearby trash can.

"Eww!" Ichigo complained, wrinkling her nose. "Gross!"

"So, birdie," Kish purred, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "It seems you've still got problems."

"Shut up!" Mint snapped, her face burning with shame. "There's nothing wrong with me!"

"I beg to differ," Kish replied, far too sarcastically for there to be any form of honesty in his words. "Looks to me like you've got big trouble heading your way. Whatever will your pathetic teammates do with one less freak on parade?"

"Get out of here!" Mint shrieked, launching herself at him, though she already knew her efforts were wasted. He laughed lightly, his golden eyes flashing darkly at her, before vanishing mid-air.

"Mint-san–"

"I don't want to hear it, Lettuce," Mint warned sharply. "Let's just go home."

~o~

Shirogane paced impatiently, glancing at the girl sitting impassively before him every now and then, bemusement twisting his features.

The mystery of Aizawa Mint was one that he simply could not explain. The results from Lettuce's test had come back, and they'd been immediately compared to the results from Mint's. It was very quickly and very clearly confirmed that there was nothing physically wrong with Mint's Mew cells; there was no difference between hers and Lettuce's. Well, none that were unexpected, anyway.

"I just don't understand, Aizawa," Ryou admitted finally, rubbing his hands over his tired-looking face. "It just doesn't make any sense."

She said nothing, still too stunned by the strange situation she was now in.

_Whoever heard of a Mew Mew losing her powers? _she thought glumly, gazing unseeingly at her hands, which were clasped neatly in her lap.

Ryou glanced at her again, shaking his head to himself.

"Go home," he said, sighing. Her head snapped up, her expression alarmed.

"Am I–?"

"Don't worry," he interrupted quickly. "You're still a Mew. We're not removing you from the team–" He noted with considerable interest that, for the girl who clearly proclaimed that she wanted nothing more than her old, 'un-ruined' life back anytime anyone asked her how she felt about being a Mew, she looked surprisingly relieved to hear this "–I just think you should rest for a few days. There's always the possibility that you're just over-exhausted, and you might just need a good sleep. Come back in a few days and we'll reassess everything then."

She nodded once, still pale-faced, worry-lines seemingly etched around her eyes and mouth, and rose gracefully from the seat.

"I'll just go and get changed, shall I?" she muttered, stalking from the room with her usual perfect poise. Shirogane watched her leave, his bright blue eyes perplexed. The moment she was out of sight, Mint sagged against the wall, letting her worries consume her entirely.

This had to be some kind of horrible nightmare. This couldn't really be happening to her. It had never happened to any of the other girls; this sudden unexplainable inability to fight the aliens. Why was it happening to her – _only_ her? And why _now_?

Tears welled up in her eyes, spilling onto her soft cheeks before she could stop them. She bowed her head for a moment, her fringe covering her eyes, letting the tears trace trails down her face, before reaching up to wipe them away with her fingers.

There was no use crying about it, no matter how awful she felt.

Escaping to the change room before any of the other girls could see her, she locked herself in a cubicle and began to remove her uniform sadly.

~o~

"Where's Mint-onee-chan today?" Pudding asked, frowning a little as she gazed around the busy dining room. She propped her hands on her hips, smearing pink frosting all over her white, heart-shaped apron.

"She's not coming in today," Lettuce replied, focusing intently on balancing a heavily laden tray of cakes and drinks as she walked past. Pudding waited for her to deliver the order before questioning her on the way back.

"Why not, na no da?"

"Akasaka-san said she needs some rest," Lettuce replied, sighing a little exhaustedly. She tucked a few wayward strands of green behind one ear.

"But she wasn't in yesterday, either," Pudding said, pouting sadly. "She _will _come back, won't she?"

Lettuce bit her lip, looking away from the monkey-Mew. The truth was, she didn't know if Mint would return any time soon; Keiichiro hadn't said anything about how long her 'rest' would be.

"Excuse me? Miss?" a lady called from one of the tables. Lettuce perked, relieved at the chance to avoid answering Pudding's question. No-one wanted the little blonde girl getting upset. She was almost impossibly difficult to cheer up – or calm down, for that matter.

"Yes! Coming!" she called quickly. "Sorry, Pudding-chan. I have to go."

Pudding watched her hurry away with mournful brown eyes, sighing deeply and gazing forlornly across at Minto's empty table in the corner, before dragging her feet off to the kitchen to find Keiichiro.

Ichigo turned back to the table she was clearing, chewing her lip worriedly, her thoughts centred entirely on the absent bird-Mew. It had only been two days, but already things were strangely different without her snobbish sneering and tantalising mannerisms. If the red-haired cat-girl didn't know better, she'd almost she say she maybe even _missed _the blue-haired heiress.

But of course, that was crazy. She should be _relishing_ in the relief of not having Miss Princess Aizawa on her back all the time, pointing out more work for her to do while she sat on her royal behind and drank tea all day. It was refreshing only being bossed around by Shirogane, for once.

_Still..._

Ichigo glanced over at the innocent little heart-shaped table, her chocolate eyes flashing with worry.

~o~

"Ryou!"

Shirogane glanced up from his computer screen, as Keiichiro burst into the room.

"What?" he asked, too tired to show much alarm. It was late at night, the girls had long since gone home, the cafe was closed, and he'd been doing research for two days straight, trying to discover the source of the strange puzzle.

"I think I might know what's wrong with Aizawa-san."

"Really?" Ryou said, his interest piquing. "Well, what is it?"

"Now, you're going to think I'm crazy," Keiichiro began slowly, shutting the door to the laboratory and flicking the light on. Ryou winced in the sudden brightness, recoiling a little. He was surprised the lights even worked in there. It had been so long since he last checked them, and he had them off all the time when he was inside.

The taller man crossed the room and placed a mug of coffee down on the desk beside the blonde haired teen, resting against it with his own steaming cup.

"Whatever it is, Keiichiro, just say it," Ryou said, not caring how far-fetched it sounded. He was willing to consider any options, seeing his science and technology was proving useless.

"I think..." Keiichiro trailed off, blushing a little, as if he'd only just realised that his theory really was a lot stupider than he'd originally thought when he'd concocted it.

"_What_?" Ryou demanded, a little impatiently. Keiichiro sighed, flicking his gaze towards his friend tentatively. Shirogane stared back, waiting.

"Okay... I think..." Keiichiro said, staring down at his hands before he looked up again. "I think she's lovesick."

Several seconds' heavy silence passed.

"What?" Ryou said blankly.

"I said, I think–"

"No, no, I heard," Shirogane cut across him. "But just... _What_? How on earth did you reach _that _ridiculous conclusion?"

"Well, think about it," Keiichiro replied, refusing to be offended by his friend's reaction. "Have you ever seen her face when Aoyama-san comes to visit Ichigo?"

"No," Ryou replied.

"Oh..." Keiichiro trailed off. Evidently, whatever answer he'd been expecting, it hadn't been the one he'd gotten. "Well... She always looks a little sad. I'd almost say she's jealous of Ichigo's relationship."

"Jealous? Who in their right mind would be jealous of _that_?" Shirogane scoffed mirthlessly. Keiichiro surveyed him for a moment, and he sobered.

"Okay, okay," Ryou conceded, scowling. "So she's jealous that Ichigo has _somebody._"

"Yes," Keiichiro replied, continuing. "And she's jealous that Pudding has her large family, and jealous that Lettuce has her faith in romance through all those novels she's always reading. And, of course, she longs for the kind of idolisation Zakuro receives from the public every time she walks outside. Everyone adores her."

"Where are you going with this again?" Ryou asked, his eyebrows furrowing over his bright blue eyes.

"I think that Aizawa-san is lonely," Keiichiro said. "She's always been a little distant from the rest of the girls. Even here at the cafe. She just sits in the corner by herself. And she _did _quit that time, remember?"

"I certainly hadn't forgotten," Ryou replied dryly. "Unnecessary nightmare that wasted precious time."

"Ryou," Keiichiro warned, before continuing. "Well... I think that it's like in every good fairytale you've ever heard of."

"I never liked fairytales," Shirogane pointed out distastefully. Exasperated, Keiichiro ran his hands over his face.

"You're really not making this easy for me," he complained, sighing.

"Alright, sorry," his blonde friend apologised. "Please continue."

"In every classic fairytale ever written anywhere in the world, the hero or heroine ends up under some kind of spell, or in some sort of predicament that requires a specific power to set them free," Keiichiro went on, warming to his idea again. "And that power is love. Think, Ryou. Snow White needed a kiss to awaken after eating the poisonous apple. The Little Mermaid needed a kiss to regain her voice and tell the prince how she felt about him. Sleeping Beauty needed to be kissed by her true love to break the spell cast upon her kingdom."

"And how do you know all this?" Ryou asked, a little alarmed. Keiichiro ignored him.

"The point is, humans place a great deal upon love. It's our sanctuary, our safety, our guidance," he continued. "We need love to be content, to feel needed and special. Love can break the strongest of spells, inspire the greatest of hopes. It represents the ultimate loyalty and, when exploited, the ultimate betrayal. When it comes down to it, everything in a person's life is constituted by love."

"So you think Aizawa... isn't getting enough _love_?" Ryou asked sceptically.

"I think, being an only child, with her parents away all the time, and feeling a little alienated from the team, that Mint feels unappreciated," Keiichiro said finally. "And I think it's impacting on her powers."

It seemed that, in all his ridiculous proclamation about love and romance and spells and fairytales, this simple statement was what he was really trying to say.

"So, you think that, if we can find love for Mint, her powers will return?" Ryou guessed.

"It's a possibility," Keiichiro replied. Shirogane sighed heavily and turned back to his computer, staring at it in wonder for a moment, unable to believe that he was actually accepting his friend's idea as a plausible reason for the bird-Mew losing her powers (and that his precious, reliable science was being outshone by fabricated children's fairytales).

It was just so... _stupid_.

But still, if Keiichiro was right...

"Well," he said finally. "I guess it's time to find Prince Charming."

* * *

**Yay. Mint's mysterious illness has a diagnosis! -cheers-**

**I shall hopefully update this in another few days; chapters 3 and 4 have already been written, so we'll see what happens.**

**Thanks for reading.**

**Until the next chapter,**

**Cherrie xx**


	3. Drei

**June 23, 09.**

**Yo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh, everbody!**

**So, Tomahawk has acknowledged this entry as part of his Golden TMM Awards challenge. The ball is now officially rolling. -polite applause-**

**I've been absolutely befuddled as to the amount of reviews flying around at the moment; it's astonishing how little people bother to review stories these days, and it's very disheartening, because the reader thinks no-one's reading their work. So, I've resorted to checking the story traffic page, because there's proof there that people ARE actually reading, even if they're not reviewing. This story, for example, since I posted it up all of two or three days ago, has had over 23 hits to it. So there are definitely readers checking it out. **

**It is for this reason that I've decided to continue updating my stories, even if they're sadly lacking in the reviews department.**

**So, here's chapter three of SWAK. Enjoy, readers :)**

* * *

**S.W.A.K -- Drei**

* * *

"How are you feeling?"

She stared back at him, her midnight eyes impassive.

"Fine."

"Really?" he asked, an undercurrent of disbelief in his voice.

"Yes." She sounded bored.

"That's very surprising," Keiichiro commented, placing the piping bag down on the bench and abandoning the cake creation he was working on to move around to where Zakuro sat. "I'm a little concerned if the wound isn't burning _at all_... It _is _supposed to, as a side-effect of the cream."

Zakuro's cheeks pinkened under his knowing gaze, and she glanced away.

"I'm fine."

"I'm not disputing that," Keiichiro reminded her gently. "But you _are _allowed to feel pain, Fujiwara-san."

She glanced back at him, wishing he'd stop fussing over her, her hands subconsciously tracing the bandage wrapped tightly around her waist underneath her shirt.

So she was sucking it up. So what? It had to be easier than everyone trying to worry about _two_ of them, especially with Mint's strange condition...

"Do you know what's wrong with her?"

He shifted uncomfortably where he stood, not meeting her eyes, and returned to his cake, picking up where he left off with the decoration.

"Akasaka-san?" she pressed quietly.

"We're not sure," he sighed eventually. And then he explained his theory to her. She raised one slender eyebrow when he finished, the rest of her expression entirely unreadable.

"She needs _love_?"

"Perhaps."

"And what if it's not that?" Zakuro asked, tucking her violet hair over her shoulder and watching the tall chef for a moment. The amount of care he put into preparing those silly cakes was rather intriguing, actually. He handled each of his pastries as delicately as if it were a newborn baby.

"Then we'll look at something else," he replied. Silence descended once more. The three Mews left in perfect condition (though Zakuro contemplated whether someone like Pudding could be considered in 'perfect' working order when there was obviously a serious problem with the functionality of her brain) were frantically trying to maintain the order of the cafe, racing around from customer to customer like bees on steroids, buzzing all over the place as they hastily delivered orders and hastened to clean the spare tables.

Ryou was in the laboratory. No surprises there. Mint still hadn't returned yet.

Zakuro thought it ridiculous that she wasn't allowed to work today. Sure, she didn't exactly like walking around pretending to be pleased to be serving irritatingly perky thirteen year old girls, who would squeal the moment they recognised her and start forming Fujiwara Fan Clubs left, right and centre, but it was something to do to pass the time when she wasn't at a shoot. Besides, she had to admit, she didn't mind hanging around with the other girls sometimes...

Preferably on the days when Pudding had to pick up her siblings from day care. But still.

She leaned over and rested her elbows on the bench, her steely blue eyes watching Keiichiro as he pressed a little sugared flower into place on top of a scroll of whipped cream.

"So how are you planning on solving Mint's loveless crisis?" she asked eventually, curiosity getting the better of her despite the boredom reflected in her tone. He glanced up at her for a moment.

"We're not entirely sure. I think... Don't quote me on this... But, I think she needs to be kissed by her true love."

Zakuro refrained from laughing outright.

"Isn't that a little too much like a fairytale?"

"Perhaps," the brunette conceded, smiling a little to himself. "But I think this might _be _Mint's fairytale. If it is, then she needs a happy ending."

"Not all endings are happy," Zakuro pointed out, throwing aside the cravings she'd been fighting for the last half-hour, no thanks to the constant taunting from the bowl of frosting sitting conveniently just within her reach. She leaned forward and dipped her pointer in the fluffy sugar, appreciating its buttery sweetness for a moment. Keiichiro smiled at her.

"No, they're not," he acknowledged. "But I think we can manage one for Mint."

With that, he smiled at her once more and carried the cake away to the display cabinet, leaving her to her thoughts.

~o~

He glanced around the cafe, eyeing everyone with subtle thoughtfulness, his azure eyes calculating as the cogs in his brain worked to piece together the riddle.

Sure, Keiichiro might think that Mint's powers would return when she found her 'one true love', but another problem had arisen with the development of his ridiculous theory.

Who on earth could it be?

He relaxed against the wall, folding his arms over his chest and assuming a comfortable stance as he examined the potential answers to the strange little riddle.

Keiichiro... Carefully sliding his latest cake into the cabinet, looking quietly pleased with himself. It _could _be him, despite being almost ten years older than the bird-Mew. Though, Ryou just couldn't imagine it; it wasn't anything he'd ever considered before, and now that he was, it was seeming more and more far-fetched. He would've been starting secondary school when she was in kindergarten!

Ichigo... Did Mint even _swing _that way? He tried to imagine the two of them... well... _kissing_... and immediately pushed the thought from his mind. While the image was undeniably appealing (_stop it, Shirogane! Stop imagining your employees in kinky positions, dressed in maid costumes... Oh, wait... Damn it; I knew there was _something_ wrong with those uniforms!_) the chances of it ever happening were practically slim-to-none. The two almost _hated_ each other, they argued so much. Still, they _could _be putting up a front to cleverly hide the fact that the two shared a passionate, steamy– moving on.

Lettuce... No. No, it just didn't sit right. Lettuce would _definitely _not consider that kind of relationship. She was simply too 'by the books'. She'd probably faint at the slightest insinuation of girl-on-girl...

Pudding... Instant no. That was so wrong, the idea of it hurt his brain. It was rejected before he'd even finished thinking it.

Zakuro... Hmm... He could see it, actually. Especially considering the way Mint idolised and adored her so much. Now there was just the question of whether that adoration was platonically fan-based, or whether there was something more to it... And whether stone-cold Fujiwara was even capable of returning the affections. It seemed unlikely.

Besides, the image of it wasn't as appealing as Ichigo and Mint, anyway.

_Stop it, goddamn it! This is _so _wrong, what you're doing!_

That only left...

Could he even _consider_ himself an option? He'd certainly never looked at Mint... _like that_. The idea of it unsettled his stomach. He'd never considered any of his employees as anything other than employees. Suddenly opening his mind to the idea of it was very odd. No, he definitely didn't feel anything for the blue-haired girl. Unless he'd just never really looked at her properly...

"Shirogane?"

"Hmm? What?" He blinked several times, dragging himself out of his stupor. Ichigo was standing before him, her hands on her hips, her expression a heavy frown.

"What were you thinking about just now?" she asked suspiciously. Again that dirty little image floated to the front of his mind before he could stop it, and he covered his face with his hands, pressing the heels of his palms into his sockets.

"Hey, what's with you today?" she asked, alarmed. She rapped sharply against his head with her fist, the hem of her pleated skirt rising higher against her thigh.

_Aaaaargh!_

"Nothing," he choked out. "It's nothing, baka. Go... clean the fireplace, or something."

He jerked away from her, willing the images away – though it was useless now; they'd been branded eternally in his memory – and stormed off upstairs, hoping she hadn't seen his bright red cheeks.

"But, Shirogane..." Ichigo trailed off, her brown eyes huge with surprise. She stood where she was for a second, her mouth hanging open a little. Then she snapped it shut, scowling with realisation.

"We don't even _have _a fireplace, the stupid baka!"

~o~

A knock at the door.

Keiichiro entered the room; Shirogane glanced up in surprise from where he'd apparently had his head in his hands. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, light streaming in through the window, casting rectangles of sun on the floor.

"Are you okay?" Keiichiro asked, temporarily having forgotten why he was coming upstairs.

"Yes," Ryou replied quickly. Keiichiro blinked at his strange behaviour, and the blonde teen waved one of his hands. "I've just... got a headache."

"That's no good," the tall chef commented. "Would you like some paracetamol?"

"No, no, it's fine," Ryou said quickly. "Thanks, though."

Keiichiro watched him for another short second, before shrugging it off, his mind back on more pressing matters.

"I've been thinking," he said, pausing in the doorway. "How are we going to find Mint's true love?"

Ryou sighed. Did he really have to be reminded?

"I don't know," he replied tiredly. "This whole thing is just causing more trouble than its worth."

"Why?" Keiichiro asked, surprised. "We haven't even started yet."

Ryou frowned.

"Never mind," he scowled, refusing to meet his friend's eyes. "It just is. Go on."

"Well, I was just wondering if we'd use a method similar to how we found the Mews," Keiichiro said. "Will we do a sweep of the potential males in the area who are compatible with Mint's personality?"

"I doubt anyone's compatible to Mint's personality," Ryou muttered, reflecting on her impossible nature and wealthy upbringing. Sometimes he wondered how any of them tolerated her snobbish behaviour, let alone some poor unsuspecting sod who was meant to _fall in_ _love _with her.

"Come now, she's not that bad," Keiichiro laughed good-naturedly. "I'm sure there a plenty of fellows out there who would _kill_ for her affections."

_Stretching it a bit far, there, _Ryou thought to himself.

"Whatever," he said instead. "Yeah, we'll do a sweep. But how will we actually know if we've found the right guy?"

_Or girl, _he added. Of course, the image popped up again. _Damn it, brain!_

"I'm not sure," Keiichiro mused, frowning a little as he considered this. "I'm guessing we'll just... know."

"I sure hope so," Ryou sighed as his friend left, shutting the door behind him and leaving him to his solitude once more. _I'll just be glad when this whole thing's over._

~o~

Ding-dong!

She waited patiently for an answer, gazing wistfully up at the lavish exterior decoration of the mansion. The oak door swung open with a creak, and a withered old woman peered out curiously.

"Well, hello there."

"Hi," she replied, forcing a pleasant smile she'd perfected over the years. "Is Mint home?"

"Why yes, she is," the old lady croaked merrily. "May I ask who's calling on her?"

Mint was carefully re-pinning the odango buns on either side of her head, watching herself in her large, oblong vanity mirror, when there was a sharp knock on her door.

"Yes?" she called, a tad unwillingly. The door opened, and her housekeeper and temporary guardian poked her greying head in.

"You have a visitor, Miss Mint."

"Well, tell them I'm busy, Nanna," she replied sniffily. She was in no mood for seeing anyone from her stupid private academy; all they would do is talk about themselves, and whatever idiotic gossip was flying around the school. She'd much rather just be left alone to bemoan the loss of her powers.

"I believe you'll want to see this one," Nanna informed her, smiling, as always. "She says she's from the cafe."

Mint put down the pin she was holding, immediately curious.

"Well..." she trailed off, thinking about it as she turned away from the vanity. "Okay. Let her in then, since she _obviously_ isn't going to leave. How rude."

_I bet its Ichigo,_ Mint scowled to herself, while her aged guardian went off to retrieve her unexpected guest. _If it is, then I'm going to give her a piece of my mind! How dare she come here to gloat at me?! Can't she cut me some slack?_

"Hello, Mint."

She whipped her head around at sound of the quiet, smooth voice. Zakuro stood in the doorway, tall and beautiful, like a fashion queen in her stylish jeans and light shirt, her lovely purple hair a little windblown from being outside, her pale cheeks the tiniest bit flushed from the autumn chill.

She could have walked straight off the runway.

"Onee-sama!" Mint gasped in surprise, her face breaking out in a delighted beam. "Please, come in! I wasn't expecting you."

Zakuro obediently walked further into the room, shutting the door behind her.

"So… What are you doing here?" Mint asked, unable to fight the irrepressible smile that had stretched across her face. Her idol in her room. Fujiwara Zakuro, in _her room. _She wondered vaguely what she thought of it…

"I thought I'd come to visit."

"Why, how kind of you!" Mint cried, forgetting all about her hair and sweeping the leftover pins into her palm, tossing them into a drawer and slamming it shut. "You really shouldn't have."

"I came to discuss your problem with you," Zakuro announced, her voice void of colour, as usual. This disappointed Mint a little, she couldn't deny it. She'd hoped the superstar might be a little pleased to see her, but she was about as impassive as a mailman just delivering a message.

"Oh…" she tried to disguise her disappointment. She didn't particularly feel like talking about it. "What about it?"

"Has Akasaka-san come to speak with you yet?" Zakuro asked. Mint shook her head.

"You're my first visitor."

Zakuro seemed to ignore this, thinking to herself for a moment. Without a word, she crossed the room quietly, silently unwinding her satin scarf from around her neck, letting her hair tumble across her shoulders. Mint watched her, wondering what she was doing. She approached the vanity, dropping the scarf lightly.

"Have you ever been in love, Mint?"

The question came completely out of the blue, and caught her off guard. Her dark brown eyes widened.

"I don't… No, I don't think so…" she stammered, blushing a little. She gazed at the elder girl quizzically. "Onee-sama?"

Zakuro said nothing, surveying her with an unreadable expression. She took a step towards her. Mint tensed in her seat, her heart pounding a little in her chest. What on earth was she doing?

"Haven't you ever considered the idea?" Zakuro asked, her rich voice low and – if Mint didn't know her better – almost seductive, even.

"C-considered what?" Mint asked, backing up along the little stool, as the teen sensation slowly approached.

"_Love_, Mint," Zakuro said calmly.

"I-I… uh…" Her thoughts were jamming up her brain, twisting themselves into terrible knots so that she couldn't string together an intelligible sentence. And still the tall, purple-haired girl advanced. With a squeak, Mint toppled backwards off the stool, landing on the carpet with a strangled yelp.

Zakuro slowly knelt on the floor, her midnight-blue eyes impossible to read, yet unsettlingly intense; focused entirely on her face. The younger girl's blush intensified.

"Wh-what are you doing, onee-sama?" she stammered nervously, crawling backwards as the wolf-Mew crawled towards her. With a squeak, the back of her head hit the wall, and her vision blurred for a moment. As her dizziness subsided, Zakuro's beautiful face swam into focus above her. Mint squirmed, propping herself up on her elbows, panicking internally.

"A-are you drunk? Did you hit your head?" She ignored the irony in her last cry. "Onee-sama… what are you doing? Do you feel entirely well?"

Zakuro said nothing, just leaned forward slowly, quietly closing the distance between the two girls. Mint's cheeks burned tomato red as her idol's lips approached, creeping closer and closer to her own. But was she was cornered – she had no escape! Her heart in her mouth and her stomach churning, she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the moment when their lips would collide…

It never came.

Astonished, she snapped her eyes open. Zakuro's face hovered ever-so-close to her own, but there was a strange satisfaction in her deep blue eyes. Nodding once, she sat back quickly on her haunches.

"Wh-wh…" Mint gasped, finally able to breathe again, her head swirling with confusion.

"It's not me," Zakuro murmured to herself, gazing at the floor, her expression calculating.

"What's not… Onee-sama, _what's going on_?!" Mint cried, rubbing the back of her head where she'd hit the wall. Zakuro shot a very small smile at her, standing up and reaching for her scarf.

"Don't worry," she promised calmly. "It will all make sense eventually. Goodbye, Mint."

"Wait – what? What are you talking about?! _Onee-sama_!" Mint cried, scrambling up from the floor and chasing her out into the corridor. Zakuro was halfway down the oak staircase to the foyer. She lifted one slender hand in farewell, composed as ever. Mint watched her cross the tiled floor and head out into the afternoon sunlight, blinking stupidly in her wake.

What on _earth _had just happened back there?!

* * *

**-nostalgic sigh- This is so much like FLoaBW that it's like re-writing it XD**

**Well, not really, as FLoaBW was entirely about Ichigo and Ryou and new Mews. This is about Mint. And Love. **

**If, for some fortunate act of fate, you are reading this post-A/N, would you do me a tiny favour and let me know? If you like the story, if you dislike the story, if you think there are ways it can be improved... Anything. It'd just be nice to be acknowledged for having written this.**

**As always, thanks for reading :)**

**Until the next chapter,**

**Cherrie xx**


	4. Vier

**July 6, 09.**

**Hullo-o-o Fictioners!**

**I hope everyone is well :) I'm on winter break at the moment -- no uni for all of three weeks! XD**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter of SWAK~~ I hope y'all like it. Again, if you're reading, _please _review. I can't implore you enough.**

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

**S.W.A.K -- Vier**

* * *

"Mint-san! What are you doing here?"

Mint ignored Lettuce's pleasantly surprised voice, storming straight through the dining room into the kitchen.

"Is Akasaka-san here?" she demanded, her hands balled into fists at her sides. Lettuce blinked at the strange, unexpected question.

"Uh... well... I–uh..."

"Don't worry. I'll find him myself," Mint snapped, stalking off in search of the brown-haired chef. Lettuce trotted after her like a scolded puppy, looking nervous and alarmed. The smaller girl seemed to be in a very bad mood.

"Akasaka!" she bellowed, drawing countless surprised, displeased looks from the many customers enjoying their afternoon tea.

"Uh... Mint-san," Lettuce said nervously. "C-could you maybe... Keep your voice down a little; everyone's staring... Mint-san?"

Mint stomped around, ignoring the green-haired girl completely. She was a girl on a mission, and she wanted answers!

"What are you doing back here so soon?" Ichigo popped up in front of her, her expression accusing. "Aren't you meant to be taking a break?"

She scowled heavily. "Not that you need or deserve one," she muttered to herself as an afterthought.

"Out of my way, Momomiya!" Mint snapped. She was in absolutely no mood for the red-haired cat-girl today. "I've had my rest, okay. I need to speak to Akasaka."

"Well excuse me!" Ichigo protested irritably. "Sorry we don't have any maids to just run off and fetch him for you! He's _busy, _Mint. Come back later."

But Mint didn't want to come back later. She was here _now_. Need she reiterate how determined she was to get her answers?

"Where is he?" she demanded, brown eyes flashing. Ichigo glared back at her.

"I'm not telling," she said petulantly, crossing her arms. Mint refrained from growling at her.

"I'm warning you, Ichigo–"

"What're you gonna do? Hit me?" Ichigo sneered. "Sorry to point this out, but you're the one losing her powers here, not me. I think I've got a better chance of coming out the victor here."

"I swear to God, Ichigo–!"

"Mint-onee-chan!"

"_Not now, Pudding_!" both girls snapped simultaneously. Pudding stumbled to a stop mid-bound, freezing right before the part where she launched herself at the bird-Mew and tackled her in what would no doubt be one of her famously painful hugs.

"Tell me where he is; I need to speak with him!" Mint demanded.

"Who gave you permission to order everyone else around?" Ichigo shot back.

"G-guys, please," Lettuce interjected weakly.

"If you just tell me where he is, then you can go back to running around like a spastic loser again!" Mint yelled.

"_Spastic loser?!_" Ichigo shrieked. "You haven't been back _ten minutes _and you're already insulting me! You have no right–!"

"I have _every _right!" Mint shouted over her. By now, the entire cafe had fallen silent and was watching on with wide eyes.

"Girls, you're needed!" Ryou's voice called suddenly, breaking the burning tension between the two Mews. He'd interrupted right as the fight was about to escalate. His eyebrows kicked up upon catching sight of the enraged Mint.

"What are you doing back here?" he asked in confusion. Both Ichigo and Mint started shouting at the same time.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ryou cried, holding up his hands to silence them. He glanced between the two angry girls.

"Ichigo, take Lettuce and Pudding and meet Zakuro in the park. We've got a pest problem that needs taking care of," he commanded, carefully avoiding revealing what was really going on in front of all the customers. "Mint, come with me."

He took her arm and steered her into the kitchen.

"Now, what the heck is going on?" he demanded, blue eyes flashing dangerously. "What is so important that you felt compelled to make a scene in the middle of my cafe?"

"I _need _to speak to Akasaka-san," Mint growled, for the umpteenth time.

"Oh?" Ryou said, relaxing his stance and crossing his arms over his chest. "What about?"

She blushed hotly, glancing away, embarrassed.

"I... I just need to speak with him. Now."

"Fine," Shirogane sighed, unfolding his arms and heading for the door. "Wait here. I'll get him for you."

Keiichiro walked in several minutes later. A pleasant smile warmed his face when he caught sight of the blue-haired girl sitting at the bench.

"Hello, Mint-san," he greeted. "It's nice to see you again. How are you feeling? Ryou said you were looking for me."

"I..." she trailed off, stumbling into silence. Now that she was here, she wasn't sure how she was meant to discuss what had happened yesterday with Zakuro.

"Has something happened?" he asked kindly, attempting to make it easier for her. She glanced up, cheeks burning again.

"Sort of..."

She took a deep breath. He waited patiently.

"Okay, well... I'm not really sure what's going on, but..." She faltered again, before forcing herself to spit it out. "I... I think someone's in love with me!"

The expression on Keiichiro's face was priceless. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

_Well, isn't that ironic? _he thought to himself.

"A-and I... I don't know what to do about it," Mint finished, fiddling nervously with the hem of her lavender dress. She sat in a heavy silence, waiting for him to respond.

"Well..." Keiichiro wondered how to begin. "How do you know?"

"Um... well... this person came to visit me yesterday," Mint said, wording her answer carefully. She had no idea how everyone would react when they found out it was one of them. She still wasn't sure she believed it herself. It all felt like a crazy dream. "A-and, well... they kind of... sort of..."

"Yes?" Keiichiro urged gently.

"She came onto me!" Mint cried, exploding with shame. He blinked for a few seconds, digesting this.

"It's a... girl?"

"Um... uh..." Mint floundered, blush reddening with each passing second. "Y-yes."

"And how do you feel about it?" he asked kindly, watching her with interest.

"I... I don't know!" she wailed, her face in her hands. Her voice came out muffled beneath her fingers. "It was so out of the blue! Totally unexpected! She just turned up at my house for the first time ever and started walking towards me all slow and deliberate! I–I don't even really know what happened! She was just... there, and... coming towards me! And she said you'd be able to explain everything, so I came here, because _I really don't know what's going on_!"

He stared at her, a little alarmed, as she caught her breath back, her downcast eyes burning with embarrassment.

"May I ask..." he trailed off. "Who are you talking about?"

She said nothing for a few seconds, her face slowly turning a shade of burnt red-purple.

"Mint-san?"

"It's Zakuro-onee-sama, all right!" she snapped finally, seeming to have reached the pinnacle of her shame. Keiichiro blinked. A wide smile spread across his face, and he started laughing. She snapped her head up, astonished. What on _earth_? Was the world turning upside down?! He almost sounded... _relieved_.

She gazed at him, wide-eyed, for a good few seconds.

"Mint-san, you have nothing to worry about," he promised her. He opened his mouth to continue, but a crackly voice interrupted them, heavily muffled. He started and reached into his pocket, pulling out a power pendant.

"Hello?" he spoke into it.

"Akasaka-san!" Lettuce's relieved voice cried. "Is Shirogane-san there?"

"Well, he–"

"Keiichiro!" Ichigo's panicky voice shouted suddenly. "We need help! We're not strong enough with just the four of us!"

Mint cringed where she stood, her freshly relieved cheeks beginning to burn again. Way to kick her in the gut.

"They're getting stronger, na no da!" Pudding added desperately. "Pudding Ring Inferno!"

"Hit it now, Lettuce!" Ichigo cried, her voice returning a moment later. "We're just not as strong without Mint! We can beat these losers this time, but I don't know what will happen next time!"

"All right, Ichigo-san, don't worry," Keiichiro said seriously, concern thick in his voice. "Just do your best. I'll tell Ryou. We'll discuss it later, but for now, just focus on destroying the Chimera Anima."

"Yes sir!" Ichigo and Lettuce's voice chorused, and the line crackled and went dead. Keiichiro turned back to Mint, who was feeling downright rotten, and utterly helpless. His expression softened a little as she stared at her feet, willing back the tears.

"Wait right here, Mint-san," he said gently. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

~o~

Mint glanced around at her battered, exhausted teammates. They were all crammed into the kitchen, crowded around the island, their expressions grim. She carefully avoided catching Zakuro's eye. She simply couldn't bring herself to look at her idol, not after yesterday...

"Girls," Ryou began, breaking the heavy silence. "It's time we had a chat."

"You don't say," Ichigo retorted tiredly. He silenced her with a look.

"We'll start with Mint's condition," he continued. "Now, as you are all well aware, Aizawa is losing her powers."

Everyone glanced over at her, and she squirmed a little where she sat, staring pointedly at the cake sitting in the middle of the table.

"Well," Ryou continued. "We think that this may be because she's not receiving enough... affection." He obviously realised how stupid he sounded as the words rolled off his tongue. He scratched his neck awkwardly. Apparently, this was not something he was particularly proud to be saying.

"_What_?" Ichigo immediately piped up. "So she's cracked it because she's not getting enough _attention_?"

"No," Mint, Ryou and Keiichiro replied, Mint's protest a little more vocal than the two males'.

"We're not sure how it happened," Keiichiro continued. "But we think we know how to fix it."

"And how's that?" Ichigo demanded. Ryou sighed heavily. Keiichiro glanced at him, coming to the conclusion that he was going to have to handle this one on his own.

"We think we need to find her true love."

"What?" Ichigo said blankly.

"Like a fairytale, na no da?" Pudding asked, confused.

"Yes, Pudding-san," Keiichiro said, smiling. "Exactly like a fairytale."

"In order for Mint's powers to return to their full strength, we believe she needs to be kissed by the person who has truly captured her heart," he continued. Mint just sat frozen in her seat, her eyes wide and her mouth dropped open.

_He's not... serious...?_

"But that's ridiculous!" Ichigo exclaimed. "You're trying to tell us she's lost her powers because she doesn't have a _boyfriend_?"

"It's possible, Ichigo-san," Keiichiro replied, gazing at her. "And right now, we're willing to try anything. Ryou's technology has proved there's absolutely nothing wrong with her health or her genetics, so we have no choice but to turn to other, supernatural factors for an explanation."

"So who is it?" Lettuce asked curiously.

"We don't know," Ryou confessed.

"We assume it could be anybody," Keiichiro added. "Which is why, yesterday, Zakuro-san went around to Mint's house to test that theory."

Mint snapped her head up in shock. Across the room, Zakuro shot her a small smile.

"It was clear it wasn't me," she said. "Otherwise Mint would have closed the final gap. But she was too shocked to respond."

Mint's mouth bobbed open and closed like a goldfish's. The puzzle pieced together in her mind. It was all making sense now, but somehow, she found she still couldn't quite believe it. This was almost _worse _than if Zakuro really _had _been in love with her.

"So... I-it could be any _one _of you?" she stammered. Keiichiro looked at her for a moment.

"It's possible. And not improbable, either," he said, "if we're to assume it's going to be someone close to you. The options really are quite limited."

Mint paled considerably as everyone glanced at her again.

"But... you're not _serious_?" she gaped, brown eyes shocked.

"I'm afraid so, Mint-san."

The silence was so thick, Keiichiro could have cut it with the cake knife sitting innocently on the table.

"Well, at least we can cross off Fujiwara," Ryou commented in a bad attempt at a joke. Mint moaned and lowered her head to the table, wishing she could just die on the spot.

"Why me?" she wailed. "Why am I the one stuck with this awful condition? And why _love_?" Her voice hardened, rich with irritation. "Why is love the answer? I don't love anyone! I don't _need_ love, and I certainly don't _want _it! This is _utterly ridiculous_!"

"We're sorry, Mint-san," Keiichiro said gently. "This is going to be hard on you. But it might well be the only way to get your powers back."

She fell into a gloomy silence, her anger deflating.

"So, until then," Ichigo said, "what do we do? I mean, it's great that we get to go hunting for Mint's lover now – you know, a new mission and all – but, seriously, we can't keep fighting alien monsters when we're down one member. We're just not strong enough."

"I acknowledge that," Ryou said seriously, gazing around at them all with concerned blue eyes. "And after much discussion and examining of all the possible answers, we've come up with only one solution."

"What's that?" Ichigo asked eagerly. Mint tensed in her seat, suddenly wary of his answer. Ryou waited a few moments before answering. They all waited with bated breath and tense eyes.

"We need a replacement Mew."

Mint's heart crashed into the floor.

"A replacement Mew?" Ichigo demanded sceptically.

"A Mew that has temporary powers," Keiichiro explained. "The injection process will grant her with the abilities to transform and fight, like the rest of you, but she will be limited to a specific amount of time, before she will return to her normal self again."

"So, what, we're just supposed to fight with this _new girl _until Mint magically finds Mr Right?" Ichigo demanded. The way she put it, everything sounded horribly impossible.

"It's not necessary!" Mint exploded desperately. "I'll have my powers back soon!"

"We can't be sure of that, Mint-san," Keiichiro argued. "Judging from the last two battles you participated in, you probably won't be able to battle for a while. Especially since your condition seems to have worsened over time."

"First you couldn't attack, then you couldn't summon your weapon," Ryou agreed. "The next time you battle, you probably won't even be able to transform."

Horror washed over the bird-Mew, and she looked down as tears stung her eyes. Lettuce reached out with one peachy hand and patted her arm soothingly.

"We can't take any chances," Shirogane continued firmly. "It's far too dangerous. Tonight, I'll instigate the injection process, and as of tomorrow, the search begins."

"You mean we have to_ find _this girl as well?" Ichigo complained. "You couldn't make it any more difficult, could you?"

"I'm sorry, Mint-san," Keiichiro said gently, his brown eyes falling on the devastated girl. "We'll try and fix this as quickly as we can, so you can be a part of the team again."

"So... so what happens now?" Mint forced out through trembling lips. She lifted her uncertain eyes to meet his. "Do I just... _go home_ and not come back?"

"Of course not!" Keiichiro replied, shocked at the idea.

"You'll still be expected to work here every day after school," Ryou said, smirking a little. "Don't go thinking this is a chance for you to take leave."

She relaxed a little, though the whole situation was still awful. At least she didn't have to cut herself off from them completely. Although, she was _not _looking forward to meeting her replacement...

"So, head home now, all of you, and return here tomorrow to start looking," Ryou said with finality. "It's getting late, and it's going to be a lot of work."

The girls rose from their seats, all of them quiet, even Pudding, for once. None of them looked at Mint as they dragged their feet off to the change rooms, everyone's minds focused on the news that had been dumped on them this evening. Their sympathy went out to the blue-haired girl, as they each tried to imagine what it would feel like to know they were being replaced.

Even Ichigo didn't have the heart to pick a fight tonight.

~o~

Ryou gazed quietly at the projected screen on the wall, his azure eyes flicking with some sort of unreadable emotion.

He'd been staring for a good while now. Ten or fifteen minutes, easily.

But he was running out of time. He'd procrastinated long enough. If he didn't act now, he'd miss his window of opportunity.

With a sigh of displeasure, he reached forward with his fingers, stretching them towards the many complicated-looking buttons and pads on the desk before him.

He hesitated for a moment, taking a slow breath and closing his eyes.

_Just do it, Ryou._

He snapped his fingers forward and pressed them down on a big round, red button.

ACTIVATION INITIATED flashed on the screen in big, bold letters.

He let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding.

"Whoever you are," he murmured, "and wherever you are... I hope I'm doing the right thing."

Then he dropped his hand away from the button, letting it fall to his side as he stared at the wall, a hundred thoughts flashing through his mind as he read the words emblazoned across it.

INOCULATION COMPLETE.

* * *

**Isn't 'inoculation' an awkward word! XD**

**So. There we have it. Who could this strange girl (or boy) be? Dun-dun-du-u-u-u-u-n! Well, I know, of course. You'll just have to wait and see! XP**

**Thanks again, those who read. EXTREMELY GRATEFUL THANKS to those who review. It's seriously appreciated.**

**Until the next chapter,**

**Cherrie xx**


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